Yee-haw! We're in Texas!

All our bags are packed, we're ready to go!

So much to occupy a toddler in the airport! She loved the speedy walkways....

Finally boarding the "O-pane" that she's been waiting SO long for...

Zoning out to Madagascar (the quietest and most still moment of the 3-hr flight)...

Finally there! And it took about 10 minutes for Kate and Leah to empty Leah's toy chest and begin "playing"... Kate's version of "share toys" was taking whatever Leah was playing with, and actually saying "Share toys." We had lots of taking-turns conversations with the girls throughout the week, but overall they were awesome together!

And of course, the newest attraction - Baby Isaac!

A rare awake moment for the little guy. It's funny how out of practice I am with an infant. We'd be eating dinner in the kitchen, chatting and chewing together, and all of a sudden Isaac would cry in the other room, and I actually caught myself wondering what the noise was that first day!

And if you know our niece Leah, you know this is a very rare event in her day - to be completely plopped somewhere for any amount of time! I'd be willing to bet Elmo was on the TV screen in front of us!

Kate and Leah working on a puzzle together with super focus...

Something we were looking forward to for awhile, was checking out this indoor water park they have down there, and it was really fun. Kate had a blast in the water the entire time...

And to our surprise, Kate was *amazing* with Isaac. She would sit on the couch and we'd supervise her holding him in her lap and she was so gentle and careful with him, and peppered him with kisses nonstop!

And you can't miss the Rodeo if it's in town! The petting zoo was a hit...

"Safe & Supervised" raisin snack time (see post further down about the aquarium)...

And who doesn't love a John Deere!

We had both girls in our vehicle coming home from Houston that day, and it took about 2 minutes for both of them to zonk out in the back seat. It was so sweet...

We have a similar photo from vacation in June, they're just a wee bit bigger now!

And Kate enjoyed helping me make dessert one night before bed. Yummy!

Bossy Katelyn instructing Leah on proper slide technique...on her own slide.

And okay - you have to take a moment and appreciate the pure redneck quality to the following pics. Jared finally caught this bobcat that was ransacking their yard for awhile in a trap out back, shot it, and eventually skinned it... don't worry, I unfortunately have a shot of that as well :(

Leah was so seasoned as a little farm girl. She took us right into the chicken pens to collect some eggs that day...

Decided she'd feed the chickens while she was there...

And drinking from the garden hose?!?! C'mon, it's like they were doing it on purpose! (and, yes, that is the bobcat in the background just for extra effect!)

But it is way cute how Leah struts around their yard, she LOVES their animals, and is totally comfortable with dirt. Then there's Katelyn...

As I was saying, then there's Kate. She must have tried throwing this chicken feed from yards away to avoid getting dirty or getting pecked! A city girl, what?!?!

But the one animal Kate was *totally* comfortable with, was their neighbor's old horse. She got up there with zero hesitation, and was so calm and strong sitting by herself...

And one of my favorite pics from the trip is the two girls riding the horse together, with Kate's little hands just resting on Leah's lap. Boo, I'm so sad we had to leave, they'll miss each other so much! (okay, so maybe they have no idea yet, but I miss them together!)

And finally, a quick bounce on the trampoline next door to get those last jitters out before dinner.

A fun ending to a great trip!

Oooops!

Okay, so here's a play-by-play of one of the most embarrassing events we've had with Katelyn.

1. Nana & Papou say goodbye after a weekend visit (Nana tucks a box of raisins in Kate's coat for snacking en route to Aquarium

2. Go to aquarium with Uncle Tyler & Aunt Heather

3. Daddy holds Kate above railing to see the pool of sting rays and sharks

4. The box of raisins that no one knew about until now, drops out of pocket into pool!

5. Rays swim around box of raisins...

6. Aquarium staff rushes to get net, and reaches in for raisins...

7. Aquarium staff retracts net because it's not long enough to go all the way to the bottom!

8. Box is opened by rays and spilled all over floor of this once-pure environment

9. We walk away slowly into the background and pretend we were never there!

And the raisin incident was only the beginning of a long trip, and Kate was pooped... well, and just being a brat about having her picture taken. But on another note - holy cow, she's a big kid!

Visitors!

Mommy's family came down to see the new house a couple weeks ago, and the kids had so much fun! For not having seen each other in a long time, they were best buds right away, running around playing together. Kate also got to open some (belated) Christmas gifts!

And then modeled some of her fun clothes that Amy passed down from Brooke & Paige... I actually think she could pull off this outfit huh?

And finally, struttin' the ol' snowsuit!

Thanks Amy, it's about time this girl had some real snow clothes to go sledding!

At some point during the day, when they had just a few more ounces of energy to run out of their system, Kate and Mav decided they'd do some hallway laps. It was actually really funny to watch, and cute to see them waiting for each other before they took their turns. Unfortunately, Kate runs like Phoebe from Friends...

Bring on spring!

All dressed up and ready to go - anywhere!!

Riding the "train" (aka Light Rail) into the Inner Harbor to visit the Aquarium on a great almost-spring day!

And now that the snow has melted from our backyard, we have some major work to do. Jess decided he had to first tackle climbing the huge tree back there first...

And Kate tried to avoid the camera while enjoying herself on her swing set/slide...I can still see you!

And on the first BEAUTIFUL day of 2010, Mommy played field hockey with old teammates at UD...INDOORS! Oh well, it was a lot of fun, and even Kate hung out with "old" friends Morgan and Josie (Mommy's teammates' daughters who she's met before at other tournaments, and joined right into their shenanigans upon arriving to the gym, despite being 4 years younger than Morgan, below, and 2 years younger than Josie!) It was fun to watch her run around enjoying herself with other kids. Made us a little sad that she really is growing up!

What...a...month

Did February seem to drag on forever to anybody else? We got a bit of cabin fever around here, and tried to get outta the house a bit as the snow faded away. There's this huge hill in front of the Baltimore County Board of Education building on our way to work, and we noticed tons of families sledding during all the snowy days we've had recently, so we decided to give it a try...

She went down maybe once with Daddy, then wanted to do it all by herself...not from the top of course, but she did great and had a ball!

And I just think this picture makes her look like such a little kid, not a tiny toddler. So much hair, such a serious face...

And speaking of growing up, here's Kate and her cousin "Baby Evie" who is no longer a little baby himself... and as we found out last weekend when he visited, he's getting ready to be a big brother - congrats to Aunt Kimmie and Uncle Josh!